Business and book website: wordwhisperer.net
Author of SETTLE FOR BEST: SATISFY THE WINNER YOU WERE BORN TO BE; SERVAL SON: SPOTS & STRIPES FOREVER; DeFOREST KELLEY: A HARVEST OF MEMORIES; FLOATING AROUND HOLLYWOOD; LET NO DAY DAWN THAT THE ANIMALS CANNOT SHARE(order at Amazon); and THE ENDURING LEGACY OF DeFOREST KELLEY(order at http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=382995)

Friday, December 27, 2013

A primary reason why I love doing what I do is that I get the most enthusiastic client feedback. And although money is important (it allows me to stay in business as a copywriter) the kudos I get from clients mean far more to me!Kris:

You are the word whisperer. Nicely done. You are a gifted writer and very thorough while delivering the final project in a short period of time.

“I
love taking the time to read what you do with what you are given. You amaze me!
I don't think I could give higher praise to any vendor we use - and we have 20
to 30 that we use regularly. There are gifts that God gives that cannot be
explained by any man or

science
- they are living examples of a miracle,
tangible to even the highest skeptic. This is what I think each time you
submit any writing to us. We are blessed to count you

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

A few weeks ago I had clients in holding patterns, waiting to land as soon as I completed the project I was on. This week both of the clients who were scheduled to employ me have decided to wait until after the holidays have come and gone. ACK! So here I sit, praying for some unexpected drop-ins: former clients, new clients, some editing work, anything!Moral of the story: get down payments or retainer fees up front so that when (not if) clients decide to delay, it doesn't throw you into "OMG!" Mode, wondering how you're going to make ends meet. "There goes my Christmas plans and packages. I'm dead in the water..." T'is NOT the season to be a pauper. I can handle it any other time of the year, off and on (it's a way of life for most Creatives) but this time of year it makes me come across looking like a penny-pinching Scrooge when I'm feeling more like Bob Crachit--or Tiny Tim! Grrrr...Not that I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs, mind you. When my schedule frees up unexpectedly, I start writing for myself, doing the marketing stuff that shows my wares and abilities on FB, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I also write complimentary copy, during these droughts, for power networking partners who have sent work my way this year. I just finished writing 4000 words of copy for Internet Earle (who is creating a complimentary website for a friend of his) to thank him for the number of times he has sent clients my way and saved my bacon this year, and for Lisa Taylor, who offers two services that lots of people need: computer tutoring for seniors here in the Tacoma area and other technophobes and custom WordPress sites. It makes me feel very, very good to be able to do this for them. Words are the only gifts I can afford to get them this year for Christmas, and it's a great gift--one that most people have to pay serious money to get. Oh! And I bathed my sister's two dogs yesterday, too... in my spare time. So I'm not twiddling my thumbs, by any stretch of the imagination!But of course none of the above pays the mortgage; it just keeps me from stressing too much over something I can't control while blessing people who have been such blessings to me.I'm watching the websites that offer writing jobs (usually for peanuts) to see if I spot anything that will carry me through this dry spell that I can bid on. That takes a lot of time out of every day, including weekends. I must spend 50-60 hours a week looking for writing work when I'm not engaged in writing projects. Very few people understand the enormous amount of time and attention it takes to make a living this way. But there's nothing else on earth I'd rather do than write, so here I am... writing for free when I can't write for pay!Please keep me in your prayers for a sudden, surprising upswing in business--sooner rather than later. (Now would be a good time!) I appreciate it!

Monday, December 16, 2013

New article I wrote last night ("Where is Love?") is up now at Life Without Family Network. Check it out if/when you have time or the interest--and feel free to Like and Share!!http://www.lwfnetwork.com/

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Professional copywriters
usually charge one to three dollars per word. Here’s how to get one for less—without
sacrificing quality.

Every
business and entrepreneur needs a professional writer now and then—for web
content, a brochure, content marketing articles, you name it. Unfortunately,
too many have fallen victim to tens of thousands of charlatans and wannabes who
have hung their shingles at scores of online freelance websites and proclaimed
themselves copywriting experts. (No certification or testing is required so anyone
can claim the title.)

1.IF you elect to use an online freelance website to look for copywriters (not
recommended!) be sure to carefully review each candidate’s profile page, client
history and feedback, certified test results, and portfolio. Most of the reputable copywriters
have fled online freelance websites (or are fleeing as fast as they can)
because the reputation of these sites has plummeted because of the overwhelming
numbers of impostors and their resulting unhappy customers; few professionals want to be
associated with them anymore. If you go this route, expect to spend hours (perhaps days) sorting through often-laughable
sub-standard profiles and portfolios in search of the remaining reputable
providers. Bottom line: Don’t settle for less than the
best. You’ll get what you pay for at these sites. Remember: you’ll need
a result that you can be proud of, not sub-standard copy fit only for lining
the bottom of a bird cage.

2.If you want a local provider, do a search on “your town + copywriter” and
see who pops up. Visit
their websites and look at their histories, portfolios and client
testimonials.(Note: no professional copywriter
tackles all niches; only hacks and wannabes do that—and they usually do it
poorly.) When you find ones that impress you, give them a call and make
arrangements to meet them to discuss your needs.

3.If the physical location of your copywriter isn’t an issue, run a search
on the kind of copywriter you’re seeking (SEO copywriter, real estate
copywriter, web content copywriter, content marketing copywriter, etc.) and
check out the credentials and client reviews of the ones you find. I highly recommend that you hire a
native professional copywriter from within your own country (wherever you are
in the world) when your target audience is also where you are, since he or she
will be well-versed in your nation’s idioms, culture and customs and won’t be
making major mistakes because of cultural and language issues. If your target
audience is in another country, hire a professional copywriter from the same
country your target audience is in unless the copywriter can show you copy he has
already written for that audience. Why? Because (for example) UK Englishmen
speak, spell, and write differently than do Americans, Australians and
Canadians; readers can be put off if they run across unfamiliar colloquialisms,
spellings or cultural references that they don’t hear at home.A metaphor like “You hit that one out of the
ball park!” resonates in the United States, where baseball is a national
pastime; it’ll just raise eyebrows (and sometimes hackles) in other places.

4.If you aren’t well-versed when it comes
to spelling, grammar and punctuation or if you confuse words when you’re writing
(there, their, they’re; its and it’s; accept, except; then and than, etc.) find
someone else to help you select your copywriter. It’s what you don’t know about
spelling, grammar, punctuation and other matters that can come back to bite you
professionally unless you find an ally to help you choose a copywriter.

5.Agree to pay a small fee to the
copywriter you’re considering hiring. Have them write a short one-page/250-word sample web page,
article or letter on your topic of choice (give them the source materials for
this piece); or (ideally) have them edit and enhance a substandard
one-page/250-word piece you already have on hand.Let them know you want the piece back in under
an hour (unless they’re absolutely swamped with deadlines). If they can produce
the piece to your satisfaction within this time frame, it’s likely you’re
dealing with a professional candidate.

6.

Using due diligence you can find an
exemplary freelance copywriter to do your bidding, one who won’t charge you an
arm and a leg for their services. But please note: if you aren’t able (or
willing) to pay at least $100/hour for the services of a professional
copywriter, wait until you are. No professional copywriter worth his or her
salt is going to write for you while going backward financially. Consider a U.S.
copywriter’s reality (which may mirror your own if you’re an American business
person or entrepreneur)…

Self-employed freelance copywriters
in the USA...

Ødon't get
paid vacations

Ødon't get
paid sick days

Ørarely get
bonuses for outstanding work

Ødon't have
employer-paid insurance plans

Ødon't
qualify for unemployment when work doesn’t materialize

Øhave to
take into account the time it requires to find and quote on projects

Øhave to
pay 100% of our Social Security, FICA, and other federally-mandated fees
instead of just a portion of them

Although
freelancers enjoy writing great copy...sadly....enjoyment doesn't pay the
mortgage.

#

Kristine M. Smith is a professional freelance
copywriter and the author of seven books. To discover the kinds of projects she
tackles and the ones she leaves to other professional writers, please email her
at kristinemsmith@msn.com.

Permission is hereby granted
to reprint this article as long as the copyright notice and this byline is
included wherever the reprint appears.

About Me

A
Pacific Northwest native, Kristine M. Smith transformed her copywriting
business from a struggling start-up to a going concern in near-record time.
Prior to launching her own copywriting business, Kris served as a fledgling copywriter
for a local on-hold script production company, where she won Employee of the
Quarter the last two quarters she worked there.

Kris’s
freelance writing career was launched by actor DeForest Kelley more than forty
years ago. It was Kelley and his wife Carolyn who encouraged Kris to try
Hollywood on for size, which she did from 1989 to 2003. Kris served as Mr.
Kelley’s personal assistant and caregiver during the final months of his life
and presented heartfelt sentiments about her mentor at Paramount Studios'
memorial service for him in 1999. She has written two books about him: DeForest
Kelley: A Harvest of Memories and The Enduring Legacy of DeForest Kelley:
Actor, Healer, Friend. An enhanced version of Harvest with a new title and 50+ pages of riotous additional anecdotes will debut during Star Trek's 50th Anniversary in 2016.

In
Hollywood, Kris served as an administrative assistant and secretarial floater
to writers, producers and—later—information technology professionals at various
studios. Most of her Hollywood career was spent at Warner Bros. Studios in
Burbank where she served as an executive secretary for the VP of Software
Development and as a Hardware Lease Administrator. Kris’s most notable creative
endeavor at Warner Bros. was writing the copy for an intranet website to help
newly-arrived secretaries learn the ins and outs of serving on the WB campus in
record time. The website earned her a monetary reward and the coveted (don’t
laugh!) Carrot Award (Bugs Bunny runs da joint, ya know!); the accompanying Certification
of Appreciation was co-signed by the head of the Human Resources Department and
her boss.

The
author of seven books, Kris’s sixth title, Serval Son: Spots and Stripes Forever
(You are responsible for all you tame)—a cautionary true story about what it’s
like to own, and be owned by, a wild cat for seventeen years—reached the #2 and
#4 spots at Amazon in two niche categories when it debuted in September 2011.

Kris’s
newest title, Settle for Best: Satisfy the Winner You Were Born to Be, is a chapter-by-chapter
breakdown of the twenty commonalities of millionaire philanthropists as
discerned by Napoleon Hill in his seminal 20th century work, Think
and Grow Rich. Each chapter contains words of encouragement and
instructions to entrepreneurs and anyone else who wants to leave a business,
personal, or family legacy that will resonate for generations to come. Settle
for Best stood at #1 in the Motivational Self-Help category at Amazon for three
days when it debuted.